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In which John discusses the complicated reasons why the United States spends so much more on health care than any other country in the world, and along the way reveals some surprising information, including that Americans spend more of their tax dollars on public health care than people in Canada, the UK, or Australia. Who's at fault? Insurance companies? Drug companies? Malpractice lawyers? Hospitals? Or is it more complicated than a simple blame game? (Hint: It's that one.)
For a much more thorough examination of health care expenses in America, I recommend this series at The Incidental Economist: http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/what-makes-the-us-health-care-system-so-expensive-introduction/
The Commonwealth Fund's Study of Health Care Prices in the US: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Issue%20Brief/2012/May/1595_Squires_explaining_high_hlt_care_spending_intl_brief.pdf
Some of the stats in this video also come from this New York Times story: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/health/colonoscopies-explain-why-us-leads-the-world-in-health-expenditures.html?pagewanted=all
This is the first part in what will be a periodic series on health care costs and reforms leading up to the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, in 2014.

Doctors are increasingly using the internet, to communicate, to educate, and to use sometimes as medical devices. And now docs are tackling social media, which a few of the Top Ten do, in spades. The Top Ten come from all over, from Australia to the Bay area. There is one from the Netherlands, one from Hungary,, and one from Australia. The other seven are Yanks. And they are all MDs.

Most pregnant woman want to know the best foods to eat and what to avoid. The possible dangers of eating liver, the need to avoid unprocessed cheeses and too much tuna, and, above all, the importance of folate supplements are widely appreciated. Two linked papers from Australia (Dodd and colleagues; doi:10.1136/bmj.g1285) and Norway (Englund-Ogge and colleagues; doi:10.1136/bmj.g1446) have explored whether eating “healthily” can improve clinically important pregnancy outcomes.1 2

Aaron is a Junior Doctor working away in sunny Australia. Aaron has been a longstanding FOAMed Advocate, and enjoys the interplay of medicine and technology. When not traveling along the path of medicine, he enjoys rock climbing, sailing and giving his drumkit a decent hit.

Ireland introduces standardised packaging of cigarettes: Ireland has passed legislation banning all forms of marketing branding (including logos and colours) from cigarette packaging. It is the first country in Europe to introduce standardised packaging and the second in the world. Australia introduced it in 2012.

Researchers investigated the association between sun exposure and risk of multiple sclerosis. A population based case-control study was performed. The participants were recruited from residents of Tasmania, Australia, who were aged under 60 years and had at least one grandparent born in Tasmania. Cases were people with multiple sclerosis who volunteered after information evenings at local multiple sclerosis societies, or after having been invited by a healthcare professional. In total, 136 people with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, as defined by clinical and magnetic resonance imaging criteria, were included as cases. For each case, two controls matched for sex and year of birth were randomly selected from the community. In total, 359 eligible controls were approached and the response rate was 76%.1

Quetiapine was approved in 2009 and 2010 for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in several countries worldwide, including the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Australia. These approvals followed three industry sponsored trials of quetiapine versus placebo added to an antidepressant for depression in adults who had an inadequate response to at least six weeks of antidepressant treatment. All three trials showed statistically significant improvements in symptoms of depression compared with placebo.1

I'm hoping to do my elective in Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) and would love any tips or ideas regarding getting it organised.
Is it better to try to contact hospitals directly?
Will I be expected to pay for my placement?
Anywhere that's particularly good or should be avoided?